Undated

The first in a decade-long series of severe famines and epidemics sweep central and southeastern China during the Ming Dynasty, made worse by a previous decision in 1527 to cut back on the intake of grain quotas for granaries.

During the Ming Dynasty of China, a tidal wave floods over the seawall in Haiyan County of Zhejiang province, inundating the agricultural crop fields with saltwater and ruining many acres of crops. This drives up the price of foodstuffs and many are forced to live off of tree bark and weeds (as one Wang Wenlu stated in his writing of 1545).